For the very first time, the rugby world cup will be held in Asia. The opening match was played at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Chลfu, Tokyo while the last match will be played on the second of November at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.
However, a lot of controversies have trailed the tournament and this is due to the fact that there are as many as 134 foreign-born players selected to play at the world cup for countries other than their countries of birth as revealed by Betway in an infographic.
For instance, Jean Kleyn who was born in South Africa has been selected by Ireland for the world cup. He was born in SA and grew up in SA but qualifies to represent Ireland through residency.
CJ Stander is another player in the Irish squad who should ordinarily be playing for South Africa but is wearing the colors of Ireland at the world cup in Japan. Aside from Jean Kleyn and CJ Stander, both Joey Carbery and Bundee Aki who are originally from New Zealand will also be playing for Ireland in the world.
England on its part has six foreign-born players in their squad. They are Mako Vunipola – born in New Zealand, Billy Vunipola – born in Australia, Willi Heinz – born in New Zealand, Manu Tuilagi – born in Samoa, and Figi born Joe Cokanasiga.
The Wales squad consists of eight players who were not born in Wales but playing for Ireland. Tomas Francis, Jake Ball, Ross Moriarthy, Aaron Shingler, Jonathan Davies, Hallam Amos, George North were all born in England but will be playing for Wales. Another is New Zealand born Hadleigh Parkes. Scotland on its part has 14 foreign-born players in their squad. Five England-born players, three New Zealanders, two South Africans, one American, one Australian, and one Hong Kong-born player.
To the ordinary rugby watchers, 134 foreign-born players playing for countries order than their country of birth is ridiculous but fortunately or unfortunately, thatโs now a normal thing in international rugby union. Many rugby playing nations have taken advantage of the ease with which players can move abroad, nationalize and start playing for countries other than their country of birth.
The laws governing Rugby indicates that a player only needs to have lived in another country for a minimum of three years to become eligible to represent the said country.
Unlike in football where footballers need to have lived in a particular country for at least five years before they can be allowed to adopt that country and play for it and on top of this, there are many laws being enforced by different countries aside from the FIFA laws which makes it difficult for football players to switch allegiance however they want.
The porous laws in Rugby have led to so many high-profile players missing out of the Rugby world cup which has led to controversies. Ireland, for instance, has been criticized heavily for leaving out Devin Toner who has 67-caps and chosen to instead select Jean Kleyn who only started playing for the Irish rugby national team in August. England also selected three times capped scrum-half Willi Heinz who was born and raised in New Zealand.
However, if recent reports are to be believed, the laws are set to change as the Rugby Union is trying to ensure the lax laws are made strong. Reports have it that the law will now change from three years to five years.
This change is being driven by Rugby Union vice president Agustin Pichot, who himself was a professional rugby player for Argentina. The new law, if it sees the light of the day, will help ensure smaller nations do not lose their best talents to the bigger nations.
So how will a change in law affect the landscape of international rugby union? And which of the countries currently playing at the world cup will be affected the most by the new laws.
The answers to these questions can be found by taking a close look at the squads that make up the ongoing Rugby world cup in Japan. At the last world cup in England in 2015, there were 125 foreign-born players representing countries that were not their countries of birth. Thatโs nine less than we currently have in Japan. This is an indication that the problem is surely rising and can only become worst if not checkmated.
A further look at the squads at the world cup will show you there are only three nations who have no foreign-born players in their squads.
The trio of Tonga, Samoa, and Japan have in their squads more foreign-born players than home-grown players and are very likely to be affected by the new change in the laws. Scotland, Australia, and the USA who also have considerably large numbers of foreign-born players in their squad will also be greatly affected.
These six nations on the face of it are benefiting greatly from the porous rugby laws and are likely to suffer if or when the law becomes tougher. Countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji who have some of their best talents representing other countries will be the obvious winners when the new laws are enacted.
However, the duo of Tonga and Samoa who have a couple of foreign-born players in their world cup squads are unlikely to be affected that much by the new law. This is because the foreign-born players they have in their squads have family ties with the Pacific Islanders. The foreign-born players who have family ties with the current they want to represent will surely be allowed to do so as is the case in football.
The infographic below takes a look at the foreign-born players playing at the Rugby world cup.
